The Trail Blazers improved to 3-0 Thursday with a solid 111-102 win over Denver on Thursday.

It was the kind of game where lot the players and coaches know one another well. Portland coach Nate McMillan used to play for Denver coach George Karl. The Blazers’ Raymond Felton and Marcus Camby formerly played for the Nuggets, and Denver’s Andre Miller and Rudy Fernandez used to play for Portland.

Before the game, Karl said: "You always like to play harder and like to win against your friends. Your enemies motivate you, but your friends really motivate you."

The most important battle of friends was at point guard, where Denver’s Ty Lawson (25 points, three assists, eight steals) and Portland’s Raymond Felton (23 points, six assists, five rebounds) battled to about a stalemate.

What made the matchup even more interesting was that Lawson and Felton were teammates for the final 21 games of last season, after Felton was traded by the Knicks as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal. The two are friends and fellow North Carolina products, but only one could start, and it was Lawson, who had been veteran Chauncey Billups’ understudy until Billups was shipped to New York as part of the Anthony deal.

The deal from New York was a blow for Felton, who had played at an All-Star level with the Knicks but was kind of thrown into the deal to make it happen. But Karl said Felton handled the situation well.

"He was first class," Karl said. "We talked during the season, and he was disappointed. He wanted to start. But he stayed with me. He never created any animosity. After the season, we went to him and visited him and it was obvious that he wanted his own team, and I think, in a very positive way, we kept our relationship professional."

Felton came to Portland in a draft-day trade for Miller. Karl calls the deal a win-win.

"I think Raymond is happy in Portland, I think Andre is happy in Denver," Karl said. "And I think both teams are happy with kind of the change in not going down. I think both teams feel they are as good or better with the trade."

It created a nice matchup Thursday as Felton and Lawson had their moments. Felton’s came in the fourth quarter, when he made all four of his field goals attempts, including a key three pointer, and scored nine points.

Miller is not starting, and Karl said he asked Miller not to be mad about it now, that he can be mad after the season. For his part, Miller said he gets that in a 66-game season, starters and minutes will be fluid.

"Obviously, I know where I stand as a point guard in this league and my
accomplishments," Miller said. "Whether it's here continually or somewhere, I'll
eventually step back into that role. But right now, I'm using it as a
positive."

Karl said Lawson and Miller set the tone for training camp by going hard at each other in scrimmages. "Because they never took a possession off, no one else could take a possession," Karl said.

• Fernandez also returned to Portland, where he played for three seasons. He was, to the surprise of some (well, me anyway), booed a little when he entered the game.

The former Blazers' numbers: Miller had 13 points and eight assists and shot 4 for 13 from the field. Fernandez had seven points and shot 2 for 8, including 1 for 5 from three-point range.

• Two of the big breakouts were Wesley Matthews and Jamal Crawford. Matthews had made just three three-pointers in the first two games, but suddenly found his range, making four three-pointers in the first 5:09 of the third quarter.

It was one of those bursts he had frequently last season. But alas, he has retired the 3-goggles, probably a good thing.

Crawford finally showed his uncanny ability to make big shots, exploding for 14 points in the fourth quarter in a scintillating performance.

• The guards' play made up for lackluster performances by forwards LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace, who combined for 26 points two nights after combining for 49 against Sacramento.

Not a problem in a win. However, Aldridge continued to talked about his inability to shake his fatigue.

"Just heavy legs from the start," he said. "I don't know what it is -- I'm going home, I'm resting, I'm cold-tubbing, I'm getting massages. It's just tough. I think a lot of guys are feeling like this right now, so I just have to keep fighting through it."

It's not as if the forwards didn't contribute beyond scoring. Aldridge had six assists and five rebounds and blocked a shot, and Wallace chipped in six rebounds and also blocked a shot.

• Some good news for Blazers fans who have not been able to see games on TV. The team will start streaming games in areas where Comcast Sportsnet Northwest is not available.

• The Blazers are taking Friday off, then practicing Saturday before flying to Los Angeles in the afternoon for their game New Year's Day against the Clippers.